Tiger (Siberian)Panthera tigris altaica

The Siberian tiger is a very rare species of tiger. From an estimated low in 2010 of 360, in May 2015 the Russian
Government announced that the Siberian (or Amur) Tiger has increased in numbers to between 480 and 540.

Overview

IUCN Red List status: Endangered

Numbers: In May 2015 the Russian Government announced that
the Siberian (or Amur) Tiger has increased in numbers to between
480 and 540.

Distribution & habitat: Around 80% of Siberian tigers live within the coniferous, scrub oak and birch woodlands of the Primorski Krai region of Russia (eastern Russia), with low numbers also being found in northeast China and northern North Korea.

Size: They are the largest of all cats with males growing up to 3.3 metres long and weighing up to 300 kilograms. The smaller females measure around 2.6 metres and weigh between 100-167 kilograms.

Life span: They can live up to the age of 25 years in their natural habitat.

Territory: Their territories can be as great as 1,000 square kilometres; they need to cover such vast areas whilst hunting in order to find their prey.

The Siberian tiger’s orange colour is actually paler than that of other tigers and it has widely spaced brown stripes rather than black. It has a white chest and belly and a thick ‘ruff’ of hair around its neck.

Adaptations to environment: Its thicker fur, and the layer of fat along its belly and flanks, allow it to live within the cold, harsh Siberian temperatures which can reach as low as - 46°C.

A tiger’s stripes act as camouflage within long grass and dense vegetation as they help distort its body outline, however, as the land here is covered in snow for most of the year the Siberian Tiger has developed stripes much paler than that of other tiger subspecies.